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UF Hook-Up: LGBT Main Characters in Urban Fantasy

In honour of Adrien-Luc Sanders‘s debut, m/m super-hero novel, FROM THE ASHES, and the major promo contest he’s running (Have you entered? You could win $500 Visa gift card, a $250 Visa gift card, a manuscript critique, and other stuff.), I pulled the following from the frequently asked pile:

Where are the LGBT main characters in urban fantasy?

The most popular creatures we’ve seen with varying degrees of sexual orientation is vampires. Who could forget the Anita–Jean-Claude–Asher triangle (or Jean-Claude–Asher–Julianna) of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series? Vampires tend to be non-discerning when it comes to satisfying their lust. In Kim Harrison’s Hollows series, the vampire Ivy is attracted to the main character Rachel. In addition to vampires, the sexuality of faeries and some demons varies, as well.

But what about the main characters themselves?

We can go all the way back to 1797 when Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned “Christabel” and 1872 when Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu wrote “Carmilla” for evidence of lesbian vampires. In more modern times, we have the Louis-Lestat relationship in Anne Rice’s series beginning with INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE.

Here are a few others you might not have heard of:

Mark Del Franco’s Connor Gray series has a bisexual main character who is also a druid. UNSHAPELY THINGS is the first in the series.

Tanya Huff’s Tony Foster is a gay wizard. SMOKE AND SHADOWS is the first in the series.

Menolly in Yasmine Galenorn’s DARKLING is bisexual and a half-human, half-faerie, turned vampire. DARKLING is the third book of this series.

Cover Copy: Sociopath. Killer. Deviant. Monster, devoid of morals, incapable of human emotion. The villain known as Spark has been called that and more, and as a super-powered aberrant has masterminded countless crimes to build his father’s inhuman empire.

Yet to professor Sean Archer, this fearsome creature is only Tobias Rutherford–antisocial graduate researcher, quiet underachiever, and a fascinating puzzle Sean is determined to solve.

One kiss leads to an entanglement that challenges everything Tobias knows about himself, aberrants, and his own capacity to love. But when his father orders him to assassinate a senator, one misstep unravels a knot of political intrigue that places the fate of humans and aberrants alike in Tobias’s hands. As danger mounts and bodies pile deeper, will Tobias succumb to his dark nature and sacrifice Sean–or will he defy his father and rise from the ashes to become a hero in a world of villains?

Urban Fantasy Land was established in 2008

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Guide to Review Ratings

A Reviews - Loved it! Would buy it in hardcover!
B Reviews - Liked it. Might even check out more by the author or the next in the series.
C Reviews - Either this book needs a substantial makeover, or I'm really not the right audience for it.
DNF - Did Not Finish